Fort Minor’s THE RISING TIED turned 10 today! I don’t want to get all nostalgic, but I thought it would be appropriate to jump back in time for a moment.

By the mid-2000s, Our band had made two studio albums (Hybrid Theory and Meteora), a remix album (Reanimation), and Collision Course with Jay-Z. Everything had been an insane rollercoaster ride up until that point, and we finally stepped back to think about what had happened. We went from living in apartments and our parents’ houses to being “Linkin Park.” And we hadn’t totally absorbed what that meant.

I often get asked why I made The Rising Tied–where was I coming from at the time. On HT, our band was introducing a distinctive sound. On Meteora, we were putting a twist on that, getting ourselves and the fans set up for the idea that we could do more than the one thing (particularly with tracks like Breaking The Habit and Nobody’s Listening). Reanimation was an attempt at showcasing the variety of (underground) influences that moved us, past and “present”. And Collision Course was Collision Course.

After that, as I was thinking about who we were and who I was, I realized that I didn’t feel like my own individual voice and style was totally understood. We were seen as more of a rock/pop act, but I had basically grown up on underground hip hop. Sure, I played piano and loved rock music and electronic as well, but hip hop was my foundation. So I stared making songs, never intending them to come out, just making them because I enjoyed what I was doing.

Thank you to everyone who appeared on the album, played on stage with me, and supported it. I have no idea what’s to come with Fort Minor, but I look forward to the ride.

I’ve been enjoying all the comments about the new video for the Fort Minor song, WELCOME. Until now, you’ve been checking it out in the YouTube app on your phone, and in the desktop Chrome browser. Many of you have asked when the video will come out for Google Cardboard or your other favorite VR headsets…well here we go. Check the links below for a fully-immersive experience in your VR headset of choice:

As we released THE HUNTING PARTY, I spoke on various occasions about the inspiration of the album. Part of the answer is that the album is a response to a surplus of danceable, safe, indie-pop music that’s taken over “rock”. A year ago, we knew the indie-pop thing was a style that our band is capable of making. But we were not interested in pursuing it. Why? Because there is a LOT of it out there. It seemed far more exciting for us to go against the grain.

In interviews like this one and this one I plainly explained that, although I enjoy listening to bands like Haim, CHVRCHES, Vampire Weekend, Arcade Fire, M83, and Phoenix, I felt like the genre as a whole was suffering from a surplus of bands in that vein–bands that, in many cases, came after the ones I mentioned. And I made it abundantly clear that my comment was not a dig:

But in spite of all that, in an interview recently, the band CHVRCHES was asked to respond to the comment…kinda. They were asked to respond to a version of the comment that was not consistent with what I actually said. Now, to be clear, it’s a journalist’s tendency (if not their main objective) to sensationalize this kind of commentary, and make a fight where there is none. Let’s not let them have that.

I learned a new term this year: “click bait.” Click bait is when someone titles a piece in a sensationalized way in order to get more clicks. It’s what I did with the title of this post.

There’s a lot I could pick apart about the CHVRCHES interview; after all, the group’s singer criticized me for “saying something that would become a tagline”…by saying something that became a tagline. (Also notable: the journalist printed the title “pointless dick” but the actual words were “pointless dig”). But really, my criticism is not with them or any of those bands. I said their names because I was telling the story of how our album began: not because I hate that style music, but because I hate the volume of it. In contrast, one way of looking at it is: the bands I named are the only ones I singled out as being on my “awesome” list (albeit, there are others who are awesome, and there are yet others who are “not awesome”, but that’s neither here nor there).

Lazy journalists will simplify words and start conflicts they don’t have to fight in. Cowardly bloggers will take sides based on what other blogs think is cool. In contrast, THE HUNTING PARTY is a statement about who we are and what inspires us right now. It’s a stab out into an unknown. Our fight is with conformity, stagnation, inspiration, and even our own band’s complex history. And a big thank you goes out to CHVRCHES and all the bands whose names I’ve mentioned, for helping us find direction with this album. Because sometimes, knowing where you don’t want to go is all the direction you need.

“They say the classics never go outta style, but, they do… they do. Somehow baby, I never thought we do too…” – Refused, on ”Worms Of The Senses/Faculties Of The Skull”

My name is Mike Shinoda; I’m a songwriter, vocalist, and founding member of the band Linkin Park, and I’m a regular visitor of Pigeons and Planes. When I read the Ernest Baker piece called “Rock Music Sucks Now and It’s Depressing,” I had a few reactions. I sent them to the folks who run the site, and they asked me to share them with you here.

I just heard that Deftones bassist Chi Cheng just passed away, and wanted to share a short story with you. In the early 2000s, we went out on a European tour opening for Deftones which we jokingly called the “Endless Winter Tour” because we followed cold weather around the globe for what seemed like forever. Spirits were a bit down, because it was always freezing and we kept getting sick.

One afternoon, we had a cover photo shoot for some rock magazine, and Chester was late. We were just starting to be discovered by fans in Europe, and the photographer wasn’t familiar with our band.

As we were waiting for Chester, Chi was walking by, and in his typical warm, friendly style, stopped by to hang out and mess around with us. The photographer, seeing the new person there, and watching us together, assumed the guy must be in the band. “Okay, is everyone here?” I remember him saying.

We looked at each other, laughing, and told the photographer: “yep, this is our singer, Chester.”

We proceeded to do an entire cover photo shoot for the magazine with Chi from Deftones standing way out in front, pretending to be the singer of Linkin Park. Chi was hamming it up, doing exaggerated rock star poses. It was hysterical.

My love and deepest condolences go out to the Deftones family, and hope that fond memories like these can stick in our minds during this tough time.

We’re looking for artists, illustrators, painters, and designers. Send us your artwork inspired by the music and/or lyrics from our song “CASTLE OF GLASS.” The winner chosen by us will get a cash prize of $1000, and we’ll also print our favorite design on a t-shirt and sell it on tour and in our official merchandise store, plus send you a signed copy of the t-shirt you designed. The winner of the popular vote will get $500 and signed 1-off print of their design.